Saturday, November 19, 2016

Otokoto Ritual Killer Finally Executed After 20 Years

Chief Vincent Duru, one of the men convicted in the celebrated case of
the ritual murder of an 11-year-old boy, Ikechukwu Okoronkwo, on
September 19, 1996 in Owerri, Imo State, has reportedly been hanged.

His sentence said to have been carried out on Sunday, November 13, 2016, is coming 13 years after his 2003 conviction.

To refresh memories on the case, which became popularly known as the ‘Otokoto murder’ at the time, here are 20 things to know:

1. The victim, Okoronkwo, a groundnut seller, was lured into a highbrow hotel called Otokoko in Owerri and beheaded.

2. Okoronko was reportedly given a bottle of Coca-Cola that had been spiked with drug before he was killed.

3. The hotel was owned by Chief Vincent Duru, who became known as
Chief Otokoto during the lengthy trial that followed his arrest.

4. Apart from being beheaded, the culprits reportedly removed
different other organs from his body including his genitals before
burying the corpse in a shallow grave.

5. The crime was discovered when 32-year-old Innocent Ekeanyanwu, who
beheaded the boy left the hotel to deliver the head in a polythene bag
to a client. An okada rider, who gave him a ride discovered the fresh
human head and alerted the police later. Ekeanyanwu was intercepted by
the police on his way back.

6. When the news of the boys’ murder broke, for many days, angry
residents of Owerri trooped to the streets in what became known as the
Otokoto Riots. Houses, hotels, supermarkets, and vehicles suspected to
belong to the suspects and those suspected to belong to fraudsters or
people of shady characters were burnt.

7. Ekeanyanwu was to deliver the boy’s head to an influential figure,
Chief Leonard Unaogu at Eziama in Ikeduru Local Council Area of the
state but Unaogu had reportedly travelled. He was said to have had no
choice but to take the boy’s head to Owerri.

8. A popular photograph showing Ekeanyanwu holding the victim’s head
was later released to the media, sparking the anger of Owerri residents.

9. In the ensuing riots, the residents burnt down Duru’s Otokoto
Hotel and houses. They also destroyed the cars and a petrol station
belonging to Eze Onu Egwu Nwoke. The homes of some government officials
were not spared.

10. Just three days after his arrest, Ekeanyanwu was found dead in
police custody. He was suspected to have been poisoned but the police
released a statement to deny any foul play.

11. Three police officers were sentenced to death by hanging by an
Owerri High Court in 2002 for their roles in the death of Ekeanyanwu,
who was supposed to be the principal witness in the case.

12. Before his death, Ekeanyanwu had confessed that Unaogu was the brains behind the ritual killing syndicate he worked for.

13. Policemen who later searched the premises of Otokoto Hotel
reportedly exhumed some bodies of people suspected to be victims of the
syndicate.

14. When Unaogu was arrested, he denied knowing Ekeanyanwu, who was a
gardener at the Otokoto Hotel during the time of the crime. Duru was
also arrested and both he and Unaogu denied knowing each other during
their trial, a claim rejected by the judge. Five others were arrested in
connection with the case.

15. Trial of the suspects started on December 9, 1996.

16. Nwosu-Iheme sentenced all the seven suspects including Unaogu and Duru to death.

17. Unaogu would later die at the Port Harcourt Prisons in mysterious circumstances.

18. Duru, a native of Umudim Community in Ikeduru Local Government
Area, of Imo State, appealed his conviction but the sentence was upheld
by the Appeal Court.

19. During the Otokoto trial, Duru’s son, Obicheozor , was arrested
in connection with a kidnapping case allegedly carried out by a gang he
belonged to, Black Scorpions. In 1997, Obicheozor was executed by firing
squad along with six others.

20. One of the convicted, Ebenezer Egwueke, would later appeal his
conviction too and eventually found to be innocent. He was freed after
16 years in prison. By the time he was out in 2013, he was 62 years old.